Abstract

Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser appears to be necessary in many applications such as optical time domain reflectometry and laser range finding. The first Q-switched fiber lasers were developed in 1986.¹ Progresses have been achieved since then largely due to improvements of the Q-switching technologies, such as by using acoustic-optic modulators (AOM)² and electro-optic modulators (EOM).³ AOM and EOM suffer the same issue, that is, to couple laser beam between bulky modulators and fiber, which results in extra loss and instability. In order to overcome the problem, recent years some all-fiber modulators have been reported.⁴

© 2002 Optical Society of America